Leafy Greens: Helping to Extinguish World Hunger

EL SEGUNDO, CA — There are upwards of 7 billion people living on our planet today and nearly 795 million of those people suffer from lack of food. In addition, a good portion of those 7 billion people are consuming a Western diet extremely resource intensive. Little do many know, our natural environment is suffering as much as those 795 million lacking food. The big question becomes, how do we continue to feed our growing population while still protecting what natural environment we have left? The answer: Plant-based protein. Leafy greens. Plant-based protein has been a coined topic of conversation amongst those looking to solve the world hunger issue for quite some time now.

Most of the world’s population today is consuming a Western diet that is heavy in meat, eggs and dairy. What many don’t understand is that in order to produce animal products, land, water and energy must grow, harvest and transport the feed that is then fed to the farmed animals. Currently, we produce enough calories to feed 10-11 billion people worldwide. However, most of this food goes to feeding livestock in place of feeding those hungry people. This is just one piece of the puzzle.

To put things in perspective, it is estimated that people who eat beef use 160 times more land, water and fuel resources to sustain their diets than those who consume a plant-based diet. Additionally, chicken does the least harm to our climate. However, even chicken causes 40 times more climate change per calorie of protein than the legumes that would otherwise be turned into plant-based meat.

Bottomline: we are in a constant struggle to feed our current global population, and the issue is only growing larger with every passing year. We should be following a diet that minimizes the use of the precious natural resources we still have left, not one that is single-handedly destroying the place we call home. That’s where organizations like Beyond Meat come in.

Founded by Ethan Brown back in 2009, Beyond Meat is a company on a mission to create mass-market solutions that replace animal protein with plant protein from leafy greens. The organization, reigning from El Segundo, CA, aims to improve human health, positively impact climate change, conserve natural resources and respect animal welfare.

Through constant refining, Beyond Meat creates products that pack high levels of clean nutrients using safe, high-quality ingredients. Along with that, they are dedicated to increasing awareness about global climate change and the need to develop solutions that reduce the amount of pollutants created.

The cool thing? The plant-based meat of leafy greens is quickly becoming a hot-button topic, not only amongst food critics and restauranteurs, but with those looking to solve some of our major global issues, as well. Business tycoons such as Bill Gates and Biz Stone of Twitter are realizing the endless potential in plant-based protein and investing in companies like Beyond Meat. The true concern amongst all is that by 2050 we’ll need to be able to feed a planet of 9 billion people. Luckily, companies like Beyond Meat are working hard to extinguish the issue in it’s entirety with their plant-based protein solution.